CVAC players team up for nationals

April 5, 2013

LAKE PLACID - Sixteen young, talented hockey players from the Champlain Valley Athletic Conference. That's the makeup of the Plattsburgh Roadrunners, a team that headed to the 2013 Under-16 Boys National Championships.

The squad, which is led by head coach Keith Clark of Lake Placid and includes players from the Blue Bombers, Saranac Lake, Beekmantown, Plattsburgh and other area high schools, will compete in the U16 national championship tournament April 3-7 in Troy, Mich.

The Roadrunners qualified to represent the New York District in Michigan after finishing runner-up at the state tournament in March in Amherst, where they posted a 2-2-1 record that included a heartbreaking 5-4 loss in double overtime to Cheektowaga in the championship game.

Plattsburgh's exciting run to the state championship final began with two games on March 15.

The Roadrunners opened with a fantastic finish in their first game, erasing a two-goal deficit late in the third period to earn a 2-2 tie with Nassau. Trailing 2-0, Michael Stetz netted Plattsburgh's first goal with just under three minutes left in the third to make it a 2-1 score. The Roadrunners were then awarded a penalty shot with four-tenths-of-a-second remaining when a Nassau defender dislodged his team's net under pressure from the Roadrunners. With a chance to tie the game, Beekmantown's Nate Foster buried the penalty shot to give the Roadrunners the tie.

In their next game, the Roadrunners suffered a 3-2 loss to Clarence, the top-seeded squad in the West region. On Saturday, the Roadrunners topped the Long Island Rebels 7-1 to reach Sunday's semifinal round, where they blanked the Long Island 4-0.

In the championship game, the Roadrunners battled back from 3-1 and 4-2 deficits, ultimately tying the contest at 4-4 with their goalie pulled to force overtime. Cheektowaga, however, netted the game-winner in the second overtime period.

"We put this team together to try and supplement the high school schedule and give these players some more quality games," Clark said. "We had plenty of quality players but really never anticipated being so close in the state championships.

"What a great honor to be able to represent the New York District in the national tournament," Clark added. "We will go with the attitude of enjoying the experience and competing hard."